Rules Are Made To Be Broken
by IvyBlooms
Summary: Mal becomes too comfortable with Auradon's laughable punishments and makes a horrible mistake that threatens her status in Auradon. Or Mal punches Chad Charming and breaks his nose. This act of violence does not speak well of a supposed "redeemed" Villain kid and extreme consequences are considered-Pairings include: Bal, Malvie, the Core Four (Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos).


**Title:** Rules Are Made To Be Broken

**Rating:** T

**Pairings:** The Core Four (Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos), Malvie, Bal, everyone loves everyone, basically.

**Warnings:** Referenced child abuse/neglect, referenced panic attacks/PTSD.

**Summary:** Mal becomes too comfortable with Auradon's laughable punishments and makes a horrible mistake that threatens her status in Auradon.

Or

Mal punches Chad Charming and breaks his nose. This act of violence does not speak well of a supposed "redeemed" Villain kid and extreme consequences are considered.

* * *

There was something about leather that just made Mal shiver with delight. Maybe it had something to do with the protection it provided against sharp and deadly objects on the Isle or the way it made preppy little Auradon princesses and princes gaze at her with unease—because why wouldn't a supposed fully integrated and redeemed villain wear the custom Auradon stains and silks?

Whatever the reason was, Mal just loved the rough feel against her skin, the smell that said loudly "home" and "safe", and, yeah, watching Audrey frown in distaste at her fashion choices did bring a bit of glee.

Though Mal and the VK's had ultimately chosen the righteous path of goodness, that didn't mean there wasn't any room for a little mischief and hair raising.

See, what no one seemed to understand was that the Isle wasn't actually a lawless place. There were plenty of rules there. Sure, they weren't the same oddly etiquette-obsessed ones that Auradon preached, but rules and expectations did exist nonetheless. And you got way more than a detention or stern lecture for breaking them.

Breaking rules in Auradon was actually fun. It was safe. It was also familiar and normal, reminded Mal of home, but in a pleasant way that so few things did. And what was the harm in a little school graffiti or skipping a class here and there? No one was all good, even in Auradon, and the punishments were laughable at best. Mal figured as long as she wasn't harming another person, her little rebellious tags on Beast's statue or her leathers would easily be overlooked as a product of her origin that just couldn't be stamped out.

That was, until Mal overheard Chad say some derogatory comment regarding Carlos and she decked him right in the face. Mal hadn't thought she'd struck him that hard, certainly not as hard as she would have if they were on the Isle, but she'd forgotten she'd been wearing a few very hefty rings, including Ben's, and that resulted in a broken nose which then landed Mal in Fairy Godmother's office.

Fairy Godmother paced frantically, which was strange enough since the fairy always seemed rather composed, if not horrendously bubbly and chipper. That did chip at Mal's too-cool-for-school persona and made her stomach start to constrict.

"Mal, Mal my dear child, why would you choose to use violence? You know that is an unacceptable form of conflict resolution here. We've gone over it many times in remedial goodness, have we not?"

"We have." Mal answered serenely, confidently like her mother had taught her. "I apologize for my actions, FG. But Chad sai—"

"Chad's parents are insisting you be expelled immediately!" Fair Godmother interrupted with a cry. Mal froze. "Oh, child, and I'm afraid I must seriously consider it."

"What?" Mal felt like she was in some sort of hilariously twisted alternate reality of Auradon. Expelled? Auradon Prep had never expelled anyone, Mal and the VK's had done ample research. It seemed that anything short of murder kept you enrolled, especially when your parents donated hefty sums every year for upkeep.

Fairy Godmother gave Mal a sympathetic look, "My dear one, this is not your first infraction here."

"But!" Mal rose to her feet, "But you can't expel me! Where would I go? I have nothing here. I—" Mal paused in her rant and met Fairy Godmother's eyes as understanding dawned upon her. "You want to send me back to the Isle."

"I don't _want_ to, dear, but you may have left me with no other choice." And damn that blasted fairy, Mal could actually hear the painful reluctance in her voice.

Mal felt her blood boil, "You can't send me back. The king won't allow it."

"King Ben must abide by the laws of Auradon, just as everyone else. Many exceptions have already been made in your case, Mal. Many, _many_, exceptions." Fairy Godmother sighed, "A decision will not be made immediately, mind you. The king and myself will be meeting with the Charmings to discuss the matter."

That put Mal a bit at ease. Ben wouldn't allow her to be sent back, he wouldn't. He loved her, he was king, even if the rest of Auradon hated him for it, Ben would never send Mal back to the Isle.

"For now, you are suspended from classes." Fairy Godmother continued, "And confined to your room. Meals and classwork will be delivered to you, but other than use of the restroom and showers, of course, you are not to go anywhere else. Do I make myself clear, Mal?"

"Yes."

* * *

"Here's your chemistry homework." Evie dropped a pile of worksheets and lab articles down on the bed where Mal was sprawled out like a starfish. "You really should try and get some of this done. You'll be behind if you don't."

"What's the point? I won't be here much longer anyway." Mal sighed and rolled over. Fairy Godmother and Ben were set to meet with the Charmings this weekend and Mal refused to acknowledge the painful churning her stomach was doing at the thought. If they sent her back, she would be alone. Again.

Evie pinched Mal's ear ruthlessly and twisted. "Stop talking like that! If Ben is there, you know he won't let that happen."

Mal nearly shrieked at the pain, and slapped Evie's pinching little fingers away. "God, E, back off!"

"You've been moping around for nearly a week. Jay and Carlos are worried sick and so am I." Evie delicately, as she did with everything, smoothed out her blue skirts and sat down next to Mal on the bed. Mal felt the girl's gentle breathing ghost against her bare arm and she shivered. "We would never let you go back, Mal, no matter what Fairy Godmother and Ben decide. We would kill all of them, everyone who tried to send you away. I have been practicing my poison making and I could take them all out with a single drop in their food." She was serious, Mal could hear the bloodlust in her voice. Evie, who was usually as gentle and docile as Carlos when it came to violence, held nothing back when her friend's were threatened and she was no stranger to murder. Mal recalled vividly a pirate dying of horrible stomach cramps and bleeding from his eyes strangely after he groped Carlos in an alley and promised to come back for _more_.

Mal relaxed slightly as Evie's hand stroked up and down her arm, brushing against the fine hairs and sending tingles down to her finger tips. Mal sighed and rolled over until her face was practically in Evie's lap. Evie smelled like rose perfume, the kind that Audrey might wear to impress her latest conquest. Usually it made Mal gag, but on Evie it was a comfort because it was just so completely _her_.

"I can't go back, Eves." Mal whispered, afraid to acknowledge this terrifying truth out loud. "I can't do it."

Evie's tender hands moved from Mal's arms to her purple waves and began threading fingers through the strands like the expert stylist she was. She braided Mal's hair for over an hour, undoing and redoing them until Mal's breathing had calmed and the girl had fallen into a restless sleep. Then Evie laid down beside the girl and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, a kiss that held one message and one message only.

_I'm not letting you go_.

* * *

The day of the meeting with the Charmings came fast and without even realizing it, Mal had accumulated a bit of an army. The expected people were there, of course. Evie, Carlos, and Jay all took turns watching the door, keeping a look out for any potential guards that might be coming with an overly determined and aggressive countenance. Currently Carlos and Jay were surrounding Mal's bed, Carlos beneath the blankets with Mal, stroking her hair and breathing a soft melody in her ear that she recognized vaguely as some kind of lullaby. On any other given day, she would have been greatly insulted that the youngest of the group was coddling her, but today...today she welcomed Carlos' gentle touch and soft hums.

Jay was at the foot of the bed, back rod straight, arms flexed and ready to fight whatever enemy may come through the door. He had been beneath the covers just an hour ago and Jay's method of comfort was wholly physically. He kept Mal encased in his arms, thumbs traveling in slow circles on her skin and his chin rested on her head. He even rocked for a bit.

This was what Mal had expected, the VK's at her side and diligently watching her back. It was how it had always been and Mal knew that if this situation had befallen one of them, she would have done the same. What Mal had not expected, however, were other Auradon kids to start popping up throughout the day and stationing themself around the room.

First, it was Doug, who Mal assumed came to keep Evie company. But the son of Dopey quickly came to her beside and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder and gave his typical dorky smile. Then came Lonnie, who Mal quite liked anyway, with little cakes and tea for everyone. Mal noticed a glinting dagger hidden in her silk sash, but said nothing as the girl found a comfortable chair to curl up in instead of going about her day. Then came Ally with her book of riddles and jokes from the Mad Hatter, then Aziz with some sort of calming incense straight from Agrabah, Jane followed almost immediately with her apologetic smiles and kind encouragements and a delicately woven flower crown of violets. This was all very shocking to Mal, who had only ever had her three friends on her side, protecting her, watching her back, comforting her and licking her wounds.

But then, an even greater shock hit when a hesitant knock sounded at the door and Evie opened it to reveal Audrey. The girl was slumped and nervous looking, her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her skirt as she timidly stepped over the threshold and glanced around the room, taking in the multitude of faces that had carved out a permanent spot in Mal and Evie's room. Then her eyes fell on Mal's and she walked straight to her bed where she was still curled against Carlos, all earlier signs of anxiety now gone.

Audrey, in a way, reminded Mal a lot of herself. The girl was confident to a fault, a trueborn leader, and she was willing to be nasty if it meant getting what she wanted and maybe that was why the two had clashed so horribly when the VKs first arrived in Auradon. It was known on the Isle that two Alphas could not cohabitate together for long—one was bound to rip the other's throat out eventually. And when Audrey stared straight into Mal's green eyes without even a hint of fear, Mal knew she was without a doubt, an alpha.

"I won't let them send you back." Audrey said. "Chad is a grade A douche when he wants to be and he deserved it. My parents are discussing the matter with Fairy Godmother and the king as well." Then she gave something of a wicked smirk, one that Mal never thought she'd ever see on the face of an Auradon kid. "The Charmings aren't the only influential royals around and I think everyone can agree that Queen Aurora should have some say in what happens with Maleficent's daughter."

Mal wasn't so sure about that last part, but if Aurora was on her side then she wasn't about to complain. Audrey found a seat beside Aziz and kept her eyes firmly on the floor, listening, waiting for when she was needed.

No word would come until seven o'clock that night when the tension was thickest and Mal was about ready to lose her mind. Mal had excused herself to use the restroom, a journey which Jay and Carlos insisted on accompanying her on. Once in the safety of the stall where no one could see or hear her, Mal dug her green painted nails furiously into the skin of her arms. She squeezed until the pain finally went numb and then she released. Little pink crescent wounds were left and they stung when Mal brushed a finger over them. She needed that, just some semblance of control before she could go back into that room. Being vulnerable, being weak, it never got anyone anywhere except dead on the Isle. But here, here it was seen as a cry for help, a cry that was always answered with genuine actions and kindness. Mal didn't know how to react to that when she had experienced so little before.

And what if the worst happened? What if all of Ben's smooth diplomacy and Fairy Godmother's forgiveness and Aurora's presumptuous claim to Mal's fate, lead to the Isle? What if, even in Auradon where everything was meant to be just and fair, Mal was sent back to the Isle for one foolish mistake? She wasn't completely good, no one was, but the rules were different for villain kids with track records and if there was one thing Mal knew for sure, it was that she would kill herself before she went back to the Isle.

Opening the door to her stall, Mal stepped out and looked at herself in the mirror. She surely didn't look like the ruthless leader of the VKs that she was meant to be. Even the strongest had moments where they crumbled, though, and Mal never had to worry about the aftermath because she knew that Evie and Jay and Carlos were all waiting to catch her. And apparently about half the Auradon Prep student body, if what she heard from Lonnie was true. Apparently, a bunch of students were already assembling a protest if Mal should find herself expelled.

Relaxing her shoulders, Mal splashed some water on her face. She believed in Ben, he had done everything in his power to give her and her friends a second (first?) chance when everyone else had turned their noses up at the Isle and pretended it didn't exist. He had held her tenderly through what she now knew were panic attacks and had been the first (and only for a while) person in Auradon to show her an ounce of trust. Mal trusted him to see this through. But Mal didn't necessarily extend that same trust to Fairy Godmother and certainly not to Aurora.

"Mal! Mal, Fairy Godmother and Ben are here!" Carlos hissed through the cracked bathroom door.

Mal practically bolted. She whipped open the door and plowed right into Jay's chest. Gripping her arms firmly, Jay held her still and looked straight into her eyes. "No matter what happens, I'm not letting them take you. Do you understand?"

Staring into his eyes, Mal completely understood. Jay was ready to fight, he was ready to kill. She could see the gleaming savagery in his eyes that he had been known for on the Isle. There was a reason Mal had chosen Jay as her right hand and she had never felt more at peace with that choice than she did now.

"I know." She whispered, "But if the worst happens—no, listen!" She insisted when she saw he was ready to argue. "If the worst happens, you have to look out for Carlos and Evie. They need you. I can take care of myself, but those two…" Mal trailed off as she glanced over to Carlos, who had removed himself to a respectable distance while the two talked quietly. "They need you to be strong to see them through this." Gripping at Jay's leather vest, Mal leaned up close, their lips nearly touching. "_Do not_ get yourself sent back because of me. You guys all have a life here, happiness. I won't be responsible for ruining that."

"I make my own choices." Jay intoned gravely, "But I'll make sure those two are taken care of before I do anything rash."

Mal nodded. That was all she could ask for when it came to Jay.

"They have guards." Carlos said nervously, returning to Mal and Jay's side when their conversation had seemingly ended. "Three of them."

Jay nodded, "Let's go hear the verdict."

Surprisingly, when the three VKs returned to the dorm, Fairy Godmother gave a kindly smile—but that didn't mean anything. That fairy was always smiling like a high wattage light bulb that never died, even in the dreariest of times. Mal focused more on Ben's expression. It was blank. Bad sign.

"Mal, dear, we'd like to speak with you in private." Fairy Godmother said, nervously eyeing the vast amount of bodies in the dorm room. "Might we have a moment, ladies and gentlemen?"

The silent resounding _no_ was obvious, but the students filed out quietly without protest. They did not leave the hall, though.

Mal readied herself and followed Ben and Fairy Godmother inside the room. The guards did not follow. _That_, Mal decided, was a little reassuring.

The moment the door shut, Mal did not waste a second. "Are you sending me back?"

Fairy Godmother smiled brightly and Ben released a large sigh that had clearly been sitting in his chest for ages.

"No, dear one, you will not be returning to the Isle." Fairy Godmother chirped.

"We all managed to convince the Charmings how _unwise_ it would be of them to pursue that route any further, considering the vast amount of disciplinary files that exist regarding their son." Ben explained with a familiar air of slyness. Mal smirked in return. "Queen Aurora also spoke highly of you and expressed that banishing a child to the Isle for a child's silly squabble was inhumane and would not speak well of the Charming's morality. It didn't take much more than that to put the matter to rest." Ben took Mal's hands into his own and squeezed firmly, smiling kindly at her in that charming way that had first captured her heart. "And since you've been suspended for the past week, we all agreed that you have served your punishment and can return to classes on Monday."

Mal felt then as if she might just collapse from the relief of it all.

"Please remember our other forms of conflict resolution next time, Mal." Fairy Godmother reminded. "Violence is never the answer in Auradon."

Mal had plenty evidence to offer to the contrary, but she kept her mouth shut and leaned into Ben's warmth. He wrapped his arms around and hummed a long sigh as Mal melted against him.

* * *

Things returned to normal, whatever that was, after that. Chad eerily avoided Mal or anyone else in the group and was conveniently benched during Tourney whenever Jay was on the field, which was a majority of the time. The little princeling didn't even so much as glance in Carlos' direction anymore, which was both a blessing and a curse. Carlos was an expert at blaming himself for anything and everything that ever went wrong thanks to Cruella's unyielding blame and criticism.

"It's my fault. You hit him because of me and that's why all that shit happened." Hearing Carlos swear was a red flag for the group, it meant he was slipping. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Imsorryimsorryimsorry—" But Mal shut him up with a quick kiss before sandwiching the boy between herself and Jay while Evie played with his hair from behind.

"I make my own choices." Mal said, mirroring Jay's earlier sentiment. "Chad is a prick, everyone agrees. It was about time someone stood up to him and it had nothing to do with you, pup." Mal tweaked his nose playfully, which earned her a bemused look. "And now he won't ever mouth off again and I'm safe. We're all safe." Because that was what was most important and what mattered most to Carlos, who had never known anything but _unsafe_ until coming to Auradon.

Carlos calmed minutely, but it was enough to where panicked talk eventually bled into Jay's gentle teasing him about his Tourney plays and Evie discussing his latest inventions. Mal hung back and simply observed the slow diffusion that was so familiar and so natural to each of them.

She was safe. Everyone was safe. And Mal had even more allies...no, friends, than she ever could have imagined possible.

She couldn't ask for anything more than that.


End file.
